SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AvidBiotics today announced the publication of new findings in PLoS Genetics that could enable genetic machinery used by many bacteria and bacteriophages to quickly adapt to ever-changing conditions to be harnessed for a variety of protein engineering applications. The publication by company co-founder Jeff F. Miller, Ph.D. and his colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, and AvidBiotics, defines the DNA sequences and structures that allow Diversity Generating Retroelements (DGRs) to mutate DNA sequences to direct changes (“diversification”) at specific locations in a protein molecule. This technology enables the rapid generation of highly diverse libraries of protein scaffolds for use in the creation of novel therapeutic and prophylactic drugs, diagnostics and binding reagents.